


Unofficial Memorial

by Celandine



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Drama, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-27
Updated: 2018-06-27
Packaged: 2019-05-29 14:33:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15075203
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Celandine/pseuds/Celandine
Summary: When Minister Shacklebolt refuses to include Snape on the official memorial to the fallen of the Battle of Hogwarts, Harry, Neville, and others take matters into their own hands.





	Unofficial Memorial

**Author's Note:**

  * For [juniperus](https://archiveofourown.org/users/juniperus/gifts).
  * Inspired by [The Language of Flowers](https://archiveofourown.org/works/158919) by [juniperus](https://archiveofourown.org/users/juniperus/pseuds/juniperus). 



_Dear Minister Shacklebolt,_

Harry pushed the piece of parchment a little way away and sat chewing absently on the end of his quill. _Dear Minister Shacklebolt, You are an ass and an idiot_ , was not likely to be effective, although that was what he wanted to write at the moment.

Or maybe not quite. Harry had admired Shacklebolt as an Auror, and he understood the sort of pressures that were doubtless being put on the Minister of Magic, though he _had_ rather hoped that Shacklebolt would have enough integrity not to cave in with such apparent ease to the whitewashing impulse that seemed to have infected virtually all of the Ministry.

He sighed. If there was to be any chance that Shacklebolt would listen to him, he would have to be restrained, and furthermore draw on whatever strength of reputation he had. Which was considerable, no question of that, but it might not be enough.

_I was dismayed to hear that the Ministry has no plans to include the name of Severus Snape on its memorial to those who fell at the Battle of Hogwarts or during the many earlier depredations by_

Harry broke off again. Given that Voldemort was dead, surely Harry could use his name? Or had he better say "You Know Who"? He scowled again at the parchment and rubbed his nose, unaware that he had a glob of ink on it.

_Tom Riddle, a.k.a. Lord Voldemort, a.k.a. You Know Who_

There, that should do it.

_and the Death Eaters. Professor Snape was instrumental in controlling the damage to the greatest extent possible, particularly amongst the students at Hogwarts. I can attest to that from certain knowledge, having accessed a number of Professor Snape's memories which he had deposited in a Pensieve before his death. In the spirit of truth, I urge you to reconsider this decision and include his name on the memorial._

_Sincerely yours,_

_Harry Potter_

Harry tasted bile at the back of his throat as he put his quill down and sealed the letter. He had been as polite as he possibly could under the circumstances, but it galled him to have to beg Shacklebolt to do what should simply have been done in the first case.

He trudged up the stairs to the school Owlery and chose a speedy looking brown owl to deliver the letter.

"Sent?" Neville inquired when Harry had returned to the small study room that had been set aside for those students who were in the same odd limbo that Harry and Neville were: something more than ordinary seventh years, but who had not taken their N.E.W.T.s yet. Harry had rather hoped that Draco Malfoy might be one of them. He remembered Draco's behaviour at Malfoy Manor, and thought that the Slytherin might have redeemable qualities after all, but he'd heard that Draco had been sent to finish his schooling at Durmstrang instead.

"Yes, it's sent, not that it'll do much good." Harry hooked his ankle around a chair leg to pull it away from the table, and sat down next to Neville. "If they had any intention of including Snape on their wretched memorial, they would have done it from the beginning."

"It's still in the planning stages," Neville pointed out. "They _could_ still change. You're lucky that Percy passed that list on to you. And, you know, I think it's amazing that they're including _all_ those who fell to the Death Eaters, whether recently or years ago, not just the victims and heroes here at Hogwarts."

"That will mean that your parents will be listed," realised Harry. "I hadn't even thought to look for their names, Neville, I'm sorry."

Neville shrugged. "That's all right. It's supposed to be subdivided: those killed, and those 'incapacitated' as they put it. So _both_ our parents' names will be there."

Harry reached over and gripped Neville's hand, feeling the calluses, seeing the dirt under Neville's fingernails from the hard work he'd been putting in to repair and restore the greenhouses and grounds at Hogwarts. "You're right, in some ways the Ministry's memorial _is_ good, but it won't be complete, it won't be right if they don't have Snape listed amongst the fallen, like Lupin and Tonks and all the others." He set his jaw with determination.

"I agree, Harry." Neville squeezed back. "Since you told me about some of the things that you saw in his memories, I can't quarrel with that, although I can't say I like Snape any better even in retrospect. But I wish you luck in persuading Minister Shacklebolt."

"Thanks." Harry sat back and thought about it. "You know, if my letter doesn't have any results, I think I'll get in touch with Luna and Hermione. I know _The Quibbler_ isn't that well respected, but if I could get an article in there, and if Hermione persuaded Rita Skeeter to write up something for the _Daily Prophet_ , you know, like an editorial from me asking for a letter-writing campaign or something, then maybe the publicity would shame Shacklebolt and the other high Ministry officials enough."

"Wait and see if the letter works, first," was Neville's advice.

The letter did _not_ work, and neither did the flood of letters that swamped the Ministry. Shacklebolt held firm in saying that Snape's public actions and clear support for the losing side disqualified him from any place on the memorial to war heroes and victims.

When he had read through the Minister's rather patronising letter twice, Harry threw it on the fire, and sneezed violently at the smell of burning parchment.

" _Now_ what do I do?" he said aloud.

"It's obvious that you're not going to get anywhere with the Ministry. There are too many who can bring pressure to bear, who want to tar Snape with the brush of treason so that they might be painted more lightly themselves," said Neville. "The Malfoys, for instance, but a lot of the other pureblood families, too. If they let the pureblood cause be so closely linked to treason and rebellion, they're sunk for generations to come, even those families who didn't themselves join the Death Eaters."

"I know, I know, I understand what's going on." Harry paced around the room. "It's just so unfair."

"We could set up another memorial here," said Neville, his words coming slowly. "Maybe in conjunction with Dumbledore's grave? I don't know."

"That's an idea." The anger that had gripped Harry since he'd first learned that Snape's efforts were going to be officially ignored eased very slightly. "Let's go talk with Professor McGonagall. I bet she'd support us in that."

* * *

The Headmistress of Hogwarts listened to them carefully, and gave one decisive nod when they had finished. “I quite agree. Professor Snape deserves to be remembered.”

Harry looked at her. Were those _tears_ in McGonagall’s eyes?

“We thought we would ask people from other Houses to help too,” Neville said. “Hermione already offered to organise at least one fund-raiser, but she could use some help. And Dean volunteered to design the overall memorial, with me in charge of the plantings, but he doesn’t want to be the only person doing that either. We had in mind some of the others from the D.A.”

“Very good,” said McGonagall. “Inter-House cooperation will be good to see. I would suggest also asking Tracey Davis, since she is one of the few Slytherins who has returned this year, and the only one taking her N.E.W.T.s. Once the examinations are over I expect she would have time to contribute to the project, along with the rest of your year.”

“Tracey?” Harry only vaguely recalled her as a brown-haired young witch who always kept her head down as she scurried along the corridors. “Yes, we’ll talk to her.”

* * *

It took the better part of a year to complete the fundraising, even though Harry contributed a substantial sum out of his Gringotts vault—“Blood money from the Ministry,” as he explained grimly when giving it to Hermione. The Headmistress allowed Professor Sprout to collaborate with Neville in raising magical seedlings of various sorts to sell at one of the fundraisers that Hannah Abbot and Ernie Macmillan arranged. Honking daffodils proved especially popular. Morag MacDougal convinced Anthony Goldstein to help her make dozens of Spell-Checking Quills, which were likewise favourites at the Christmas Bazaar that Susan Bones and Hermione ran in Diagon Alley, although Madame Rosmerta’s hot spiced pumpkin juice outsold everything else that day.

Thanks to Luna and her father, _The Quibbler_ ran regular articles about the memorial and the events planned to support it. Privately Harry doubted whether a comparison between the Battle of Hogwarts and its participants, and the Goblin Rebellion of 1612, would persuade many readers... but any publicity helped. He hoped.

Dean worked with Neville, Tracey, Padma Patil, and Justin Finch-Fletchley to design the memorial. Headmistress McGonagall designated a site overlooking the loch, where there would be plenty of room for all of the plantings that Neville and Padma planned.

The second anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts was already long past when everything was finally ready. At Hermione’s suggestion, the group decided to wait for the third anniversary to officially announce its completion.

“It will give all the current students a break from studying before the exams are too close,” she pointed out when Ernie complained that the date fell during term. Everyone else agreed with Hermione, and Ernie gave in.

Harry insisted that he would write the invitation to the Minister of Magic, urging him to attend the brief ceremony.

_Dear Minister Shacklebolt,_

_The Committee for the Hogwarts Memorial to the Fallen, in conjunction with Headmistress McGonagall and the entire school staff, invite you to join us for the opening ceremony of the memorial on 2 May, 2001._

_The monument itself, along with the plantings that surround it, are designed to honour all those who fought and died to stop Voldemort. We hope you will agree that this inclusive approach is worthy of your support and your attendance._

_Sincerely yours,_  
_Harry James Potter,_  
_on behalf of the committee_

**Author's Note:**

> I originally began writing this in 2010; it languished unfinished in my files until 2018, when I completed it in the form it has here.


End file.
